The snow has been falling pretty consistently all through the night and this seems to be the biggest (and most beautiful) snowfall we’ve had in Beijing in years. It’s so tempting to go throw snowballs and jump around in the big piles of white powder. But is it safe?
In one of the Safe & Sane in Beijing WeChat groups, a member wrote “May the snow freeze the virus” while an expat in another WeChat group sent in a video of herself catching snowflakes with a friend.
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), human coronaviruses most commonly spread from an infected person to others through:
- the air by coughing and sneezing
- close personal contact, such as touching or shaking hands
- touching an object or surface with the virus on it, then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes before washing your hands
- rarely, fecal contamination
While your first thought might be “wow, the snow is probably killing the virus”, unfortunately, that’s not the case. In general, the Coronavirus does slightly better in the cold, making the snow one of the likely routes of transmission.
Think of it like this. Play sessions in the snow is likely to involve a lot of use of hands, and while the kids are caught up in the excitement of being outside in the snow, they’re likely to forget about all the sanitation protocols that you’ve drilled into their heads. Now that’s not to say the snow is filled with little viral particles — but if anyone has been playing in that same patch of snow, happened to sneeze on it and just happened to be a virus carrier, there is a chance of transmission. Think of all the times your kids will touch their face to scratch an itch, brush the snow from their eyes, or wipe a runny nose.
But if you do end up playing outside in the snow, make your snowman in some virgin snow. Don’t touch your face or wipe your eyes. Wear gloves and mittens (you should do this anyway since it’s so cold outside). And most importantly, wash up properly afterward.
Source: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/about/transmission.html
Photo: verywellfamily.com
